The 2026 tennis season is only three weeks away, so the NextGen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is more of a preseason than a year-end tournament. It will be held Wednesday through Sunday, December 17-21. Jeddah is hosting for the third time in five years Milan, Italy. The eight-man field for the 20-and-under event includes Student Tien, Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer, Nishesh Basavareddy, Rafael Jodar, and Justin Engel.
Here are my three favorite picks to win the NextGen ATP Finals.
Student Tien
With Jakub Mensik and Joao Fonseca having withdrawn from the event, Tien is the cream of the crop without a doubt. He is one of only two returning contestants along with Basavareddy. Tien finished runner-up to Fonseca 12 months ago, so the 20-year-old American will take some fond memories to look back on in Jeddah. He enters at No. 28 in the world – likely to be seeded for the 2026 Australian Open.
Nishesh Basavareddy
Basavareddy is the only other participant with NextGen ATP Finals experience. The 20-year-old American also has Gilles Cervara in his corner after Cervara ended his nearly decade-long relationship with Daniil Medvedev this summer. Basavareddy slipped to No. 167 in the world after briefly breaking into the top 100 at No.
Justin Engel
Besides Tien, it’s worth looking at the longshots – like Basavareddy and Engel – in the open space with two-to-eight comparisons. Basavareddy and Engel also have the advantage of being in the weakest Red Team, giving them every chance of reaching at least the semi-finals. From there, anything can happen. Engel, 18, is an attacking German who is already showing promise on faster surfaces such as grass and hard indoor courts.
